Citizen Patriot | Jake MayAn umpire attempts to separate Homer's Mitch Pease, left, whose arms are wrapped around the head of Concord's Mike Kaplinski at the beginning of a fight at third base.Homer High School baseball coach Scott Salow has seen his program on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to sportsmanship.

In 2004, Homer won the “Good Sports Are Winners” award from the Michigan High School Athletic Association for its decorum on the way to a state championship.

This season ended with the Trojans and Concord both forfeiting their Division 4 district championship game after a fight in the third inning Saturday at Concord.

Salow vows to return Homer to the other end of the spectrum.

“From the Homer standpoint, the coaching was faulty, and we’re going to make that right,” Salow said Monday. “There are things we could have done to keep this from happening. The kids got put into an unfortunate situation due to the actions or inactions of the adults.”

The MHSAA confirmed Monday that the game between the Big Eight Conference rivals will not be finished and there will be no district champion. Camden-Frontier, which was to play the Concord district champion in the regional semifinal, receives a bye into the regional final.

MHSAA assistant director Randy Allen said the umpires reported that all players who left their dugout were ejected, and that left neither team with enough players to finish the game. Salow and Concord coach John Ropp disagreed with each other on that point.

“We may have had a couple out (of the dugout),” Salow said. “I know a lot of John’s kids didn’t come out. It seems like you throw out the kids who came out, throw out the coaches and finish the game.”

Ropp said he saw too many players involved to allow either team enough to continue.Concord had enjoyed a turnaround season with a 14-9 record for its most victories in more than a decade and a fourth-place finish in the Big Eight, its best since 1991. Ropp said the Yellow Jackets had been talking since the first day of practice about a possible meeting with Homer in the district. Homer had won the district the last seven years.

“I’m just very disappointed,” Ropp said. “It was a sad day.”

Salow agreed with that.

“It’s a black eye for both programs, for our communities, for our conference and for our young kids watching along the fence who had to see their baseball idols stoop to that level,” Salow said.

Salow met with his team Monday to discuss the incident and how the Trojans would move forward.

“We’ll make it right,” he said. “We’ll discipline the coaches that need to be disciplined. We’ll do whatever the state tells us.”

Neither coach said he was aware of any video of the brawl. It is not known whether the MHSAA will sanction either program.

“It won’t be a big deal,” Ropp said about future games between the neighboring schools. “I honestly think the fans will make it worse than it should be. I will have a talk with our fans to be on their best behavior.